1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dispenser container for a rod-like cosmetic such as a lip stick, eyeliner and the like, which is accommodated inside of the container. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a dispenser container including a cartridge body for allowing the rod-like cosmetic to be replaced whenever desired, wherein the cartridge body can be produced with a high manufacturing efficiency and in a less expensive manner, and can be readily collected or recovered for recycling purpose.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been various proposals made in respect of a so-called cartridge-type dispenser container for a rod-like cosmetic, in which a rod-like cosmetic is accommodated inside of a container provided with an internal dispensing mechanism, such that the rod-like cosmetic can be replaced whenever desired. An arrangement according to the applicant's earlier proposal is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 10-113,224, in which the dispensing container for the rod-like cosmetic includes a cartridge body comprised of a holder cylinder and an inner body cylinder, as well as a container main body comprised of a sleeve, main body cylinder and a cap. In this instance, the inner body cylinder of the cartridge body has a lower portion which is detachably engaged into the main body cylinder of the container main body, and the sleeve can be slidingly moved downwards so as to remove the cartridge body from the container main body. In this instance, the cartridge body to be disposed is comprised essentially of the holder cylinder and the inner body cylinder, which is not exposed when it is mounted in the container main body. As a result, the cartridge body does not require any specific ornamental treatment and can be formed of a single material, so that the cartridge body can be produced with a high manufacturing efficiency and in a less expensive manner. Furthermore, when the cartridge body is to be disposed, it is possible readily to perform sorting and collection of the waste material for recycling purpose.
Moreover, it is possible to remove the cartridge body from the by the vertical movement of the sleeve. Thus, by operating the sleeve, the cartridge body can be readily removed even under an increased retaining force between the cartridge body and the container main body, which serves to completely prevent unintended removal of the cartridge body.
However, since the abutment portion for moving the cartridge body downwards is provided at the lower end of the sleeve, there exists a stepped abutment portion within the container main body. This results in that, when the cartridge body is not accurately inserted into the container main body, the tip end of the cartridge body tends to be engaged with the abutment portion so that the tip end of the components of the cartridge body or of the rod-like cosmetic may be subjected to damages. Also, due to the formation of the stepped portion on the outer peripheral surface of the cartridge body, it has been considered inevitable for the cartridge body to have an outer diameter which is unduly large.
Moreover, when the holder cylinder is to be assembled into the inner body cylinder, the engaging projections extending through the guide slits in the inner body cylinder obstruct the assembling operation. It was thus necessary for the upper end of the inner body cylinder to have cutouts which extends to the guide slits, such that the upper end of the inner body cylinder is radially expanded in order to allow the holder cylinder to be inserted into the inner body cylinder from the upper side. Such an arrangement, however, is not very appropriate because the inner body cylinder as a whole is exposed when the cartridge body alone is present, and there may be instances wherein the tip end of the inner body cylinder is deformed radially inwards and comes into contact with the rod-like cosmetic, thereby giving rise to damages to the rod-like cosmetic.